Incredible INDIA - 24 hours in Agra

Magical India - the final chapter

24 hours in Agra :)

The most amazing building in the World in my personal opinion – so calm, so special, so beautiful. My sanctuary :) 

The Taj Mahal is a pure white marble mausoleum located in Agra, It was built by Mughai Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the empire’s period of greatest properity, was grief stricken when his third wife died during the birth of their 14^th child. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648, and the surrounding buildings and garden were finised five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan described the Taj in these words:

“Should guilty seek asylum here,

Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.

Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,

All his past sins are to be washed away.

The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sights;

And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.

In this world this edifice has been made;

To display thereby the creator’s glory”.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture.

The Taj Mahal was such a calming and special place for me. I hadn’t given too much thought as to how I would feel, or what I would feel when I saw this palace. In fact a friend of mine had gone before and told me that he had to go twice to fully appreciate it, so I presumed I would go and see it and take some photos and that would be it.  I just knew that while I was in India there was absolutely no way I could leave without seeing it.

I very nearly didn’t see it. A friend in Bermuda had sent me an article in which sadly a British woman had climbed and then jumped out of her hotel window to escape the hotel manager and his staff attempting to attack her. The warnings were such that females should not travel alone, especially in light of the recent attacks on women on local buses as well. India felt like a scary place for a while. So company was appreciated so that I was able to experience this special place without the fear factor. 

I didn’t expect to feel such a connection with the beauty and immenseness of the Palace.  I felt like I had come home when I got inside the gates.   I just wanted to sit calmly and quietly and absorb all of the positive energy I felt around me.  I could have literally sat all day sitting from afar on a bench watching the people walking past me, watching the smiles on peoples faces and taking in the peace. In hindsight, I wish I had gone with my instinct to stay there and spend hours there, or in the very least go and see the Baby Taj Mahal but then come back to the Taj Mahal for the afternoon. Hindsight...lol.

The sheer architecture alone means you could spend days looking in detail at the buildings and still not seeing everything there is to see. The marble was beautiful, and so bright in the sunshine and the carvings into it and intricate detail behind every pattern was just spectacular. Such talent :) 

We visited at sunrise and while we didn’t have the spectacular colors like I had hoped, we had an extremely clear and sunny day with wonderful blue skies. At that time in the morning it is also fantastically quiet as the majority of people seemed to arrive a little later in the morning, thankfully just as we were leaving. 

This meant that we had a lot of space to pop out some funky yoga poses without people fighting for that prime photo spot! Of course the handstand featured heavily ;)  I would love to come back again for the sunset, now that would be awesome.

From here we moved on with our lovely tuk tuk driver to the Baby Taj Mahal. To say it was a warm day was to put it mildly. We drove through immense poverty as we worked our way through Agra.  People live in shacks on the side of the road, they wash in the street, pee in the street, hang out in the streets and a large number sleep in the streets.  There are half built buildings everywhere, and some people seem to sleep in the open parts of these buildings also.  There are people everywhere, trying to sell you something or show you something. It could be quite overwhelming at times, but more than anything very, very sad to witness such poverty knowing that we were there for only 24 hours and were lucky enough to leave whenever we wanted.

The view from the Taj Mahal is spectacular, however when you cross the city you see the view of the Taj Mahal from the other temples and it is very different. The Taj Mahal sits majestically behind vast empty spaces of derelict land, swamp areas and land areas filled with rubbish.

The Baby Taj Mahal was built between 1622 and 1628 and represents a transition between the first phase of monumental Mughal architecture – primarily built with red sandstone with marble decorations, - to its second phase, based on white marble as in realized in the Taj Mahal. The Baby Taj Mahal is often described as “jewel box”, the tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.

The walls are white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations –cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx and topaz formed into images of cypress trees and wine bottles, or more elaborate decorations like cut fruits or vases containing bouquets. The detail is spectacular and I found myself very snap happy lol!!  

I adored this place as well J Lots of handstand opportunities here too!  What made my day was a little boy who was playing in the derelict land shouting up at me. He had seen me attempting to do handstands and decided that he wanted to join in. He was shouting “Look at me lady, look at me” and when I turned around there he was doing cartwheels through the mud and grinning from ear to ear proudly. I took some photos of him, which are priceless! What an awesome connection J

What a special day and amazing memories of such wonderful architecture and history J So glad we made the trip from Delhi to spend 24 hours in Agra. Worth every single second of trouble getting there! They will remain engrained in my memory for always.

Very grateful <3

Incredible INDIA - GRADUATION YTT 300 :) :)

Magical Rishikesh - GRADUATION TIME!!!!

Can't believe it is finally our time to be graduating from Rishikesh Yog Peeth having completed our 6 week yoga teacher training 300 hour course!!! Woohoo!! Let the celebrations begin!! So many wonderful experiences during this time. So many amazing friends made along the way. Super sad to be leaving rishikesh tomorrow but I know I will be back :) ♥ ♥

Check out my amazing Cinderalla style sari style outfit for graduation!! I went shopping with Lauren earlier this week and bought the most beautiful sari fabric, then visited my favourite tailor and asked him to turn it into a wrap around skirt and sari blouse for me. He did such a wonderful job!! Was so much fun for us all to get dressed up and put some make up on and see each other out of our yoga clothes for the first time in 6 whole weeks :)

What an amazing achievement for us all. So many people from the YTT 200 course came to support us on our graduation evening, and I would like to extend a huge thank you to them for all of their wonderful support while we taught them and guided each other through our yogi journey with Rishikesh Yog Peeth.

I have had such a wonderful experience, I feel like I am accepting an oscar or something but want to truly thank everyone who made this wonderful thing possible! Our teachers - Faraaz, Roshan, Krishna, Nrendra (sorry I know I have spelt this wrong), Jeet, Stevie. My fellow yogis on the YTT 300 course - for being so awesome, for being tested to our absolute max and surviving and still continuing to smile and share our magic with each other. I have shared my life with people from all walks of life and we have gone through so much together in these last 6 weeks. It has been so good for us to have the YTT 200 students around us and interacting with us - you guys and gals had so much positive energy and I totally fed off your energy when I met you at Oasis, or Moon Dance or the cafe or wherever and whenever. I can't thank you enough for your kindness when I taught you.

Amanda and Danielle - for just being amazing, amazing, amazing. What an EARTH am I going to do without you two girls in my World every single day. Thank god for Facebook and whatsapp or my life would be crumbling before me right now ;) So much love for these girls. Lauren - so so so happy to have met you, and the above applies directly to you as well. Awesome people in my life, and eternally grateful to have met everyone during these last 6 weeks.

OK there, cheesiness over. But honestly today has been one of the most emotionally testing days of my trip. The news about Liam, the packing up of my life in Rishikesh, the graduation after all of our hard work, the emotions and fears and excitement of what next and the level of gratitude for such an amazing learning process.  Amazeballs. 

Ah INDIA I ♥ you. What an amazingly, awesomely, wonderful place. I have learnt so much about life, and myself in this crazy little town called Rishikesh. Who knew that the place I was most nervous about visiting along my journey would turn out to be my very own special place :) Everyday I learn something new, something spectacular about "stuff".

Thank you, thank you, thank you Rishikesh Yog Peeth for this wonderful opportunity.

We are 500 hour yoga teachers now WOOHOO!!!!!!

Smiles. Big, fabulously happy smiles.

xoxoxoxoxoxo 

Incredible INDIA - Part Four

Rishikesh - Final Week of YTT 300

The penultimate Rishikesh installment - which makes my heart break a little bit inside. So so sad to be leaving this magical bubble of yoga, love, happiness and contentment that has become my routine, my home, my family for the last 6 weeks. Rishikesh Yog Peeth has been a safe haven for me, and I will take something from my experiences here every single day for the rest of my life. My mission now is to share everything that I have leant and inspire those around me.

It has been a whirlwind. Long gone is the day in which I arrived and looked around me and wondered if I would survive 6 weeks in this crazy place. Now my thinking is the exact opposite, just how will I survive without being here? Without my friends, my teachers, my inspirational role models, my routine, my daily asana, pranayama and meditation schedule. Will I ever hear anyone speak as wisely as Roshan? Will I remember everything that I learnt here? My mind aches with the questions that came fast and furiously as the end drew near.

My friends and I have all held on a little bit tighter these last two weeks, making the most of every day, every moment, every second in fact. Preparing each other for "life after Rishikesh" and life after "YTT 300". There have been tears. I know I am not alone in knowing that this place, this course has changed my World as I know it.

Never have I felt so much love, so much gratitude, so much positive energy. I have a friend who calls me a "******* hippy" which I know he means affectionately, and it makes me smile. I am. I am a gypsy without a home, and a happy one. Also a little bi of a terrified one about that thought of what will happen when I cross that bridge out of here....can I keep this amazingness alive?

Watch this space.

And breathe... :) All of my assessed YTT 300 hour course practical assignments are completed! I have taught a 90 minute yoga class to the YTT 200 people, and just finished presenting my Yoga for Runners workshop to my fellow yogis. I feel so good right now!!! We were allowed to present a topic of our choice, and it was to be an interactive and informative session. I had been stressing out big time about presenting for that long with 18 pairs of eyes on me and only me at the front of a sweaty yoga hall without AC or fans and the heat of an Indian summer fast approaching! If only I had known just how much I would actually enjoy it once I got started lol. I chose a subject which was close to my heart - Yoga for Runners.  I could talk for hours on this subject so it seemed an obvious choice.  I talked about the link that I see as key between running and yoga, despite at first glance the two seeming as opposing as yin and yang. I showed people how to understand their bodies, which stretches were most pertinent to their individual body and muscles. How to warm up for activities gently, and how to cool down post a training event with gentle restorative or yin yoga techniques. It was a really good session, and people asked a lot of questions. They even joined in when I made them run for 10 minutes around the garden in the summer heat to stimulate the muscles post warm up and pre cool down! So much fun :)

Yay! I have officially finished all of the hard work :):) So proud of me!!!

Best way to celebrate? With a massage :) I was lucky to enough to find an awesome masseuse in Rishikesh called Vicky who just about everyone at Rishikesh Yog Peeth raved about. The man was amazing with his hands, and his words of advice were so true and relevant to each of us. It felt very much like a visit to my sports physio from Bermuda, Glenn, who always brought my body back to life with his brutal massage, and brought my passion for running to new levels, and confidence soaring with his pysch sessions pre and post races! He prepared me for endless races during my last 6 months in Bermy. Awesome. Vicky told me quite bluntly that my body was not ready for the Ashtanga yoga that I had come to love quite as often as I was attempting to do it...so reluctantly I cut back! I may be addicted, but even I can listen to my body at times ;)

On our final week with the wonderful Krishna, he invited us to meet in the ashram garden for some crazy stuff instead!! You can see from the photos below that my fellow yogis took part in sutra neti and throwing up in order to cleanse their bodies... I was the photographer....having thrown up quite a lot myself quite naturally that week, I wasn't really too keen to do it for fun strangely enough! They then went on to perform contortionist moves with their stomachs in the classroom afterwards! Krishna is one amazing teacher and we were so lucky to learn as much as we did from him :)

On our final, final evening before graduation the girls organised a movie night which actually turned into several of us doing last minute studying in order to meet the deadlines for handing in our prepared yoga class routines and exam paper, and in the background Faraaz and several others dancing and enjoying music and each others company! A fun evening and happy memories :)

The final days flew by and we all hurried to tie up lose ends so we could see as much of Rishikesh as we could, and spend those final precious days together. I saw the temple that I had looked at on the hill for weeks finally. I packed up my bedroom, preparing parcels to send home as I had bought so many yoga books, clothes and gifts for everyone!! I absolutely love how they prepare our parcels in India - a man literally packs them into boxes, then sits and sews cloth all the way around the boxes and onto this cloth you write your to and from address and deliver these to the Post Office! So beautifully presented!!

Krishna was kind enough to let us off a yoga therapy class to spend the time instead attending our final (and for me the first) Puri at the local ashram. It was an amazing experience for me and I was overwhelmed by how many people, both locals and westerners, attended to give their offerings to the River Ganges. There were people everywhere. Everyone could buy offerings which were small baskets made from banana leaves and filled with petals and a small incense stick and candle. During this occasion beautiful Indian music and chants were played, people sang and meditated and gave thanks. Then a candle burning is passed around in a large copper container for people to circle several times in each direction before passing to the next person - this was chaos, and thankfully Amanda managed to smile sweetly in the direction of one of the young boys who took pleasure in making sure we were able to take part. After this we lit our offerings, took them to the River and said a small prayer and released them into the current in the River Ganges.  Such a special evening.

Check out the amazing street art that a very cool girl, Ali, who I met along the way painted! It's all about encouraging locals to take care of their environment and she has been traveling through India doing such street artwork and spreading her message. Kick ass girl :)

I spent as much time as I could by the water, well aware that I would not be near it for quite some time after Rishikesh. I absorbed as many of the scenes of India as I could, particularly the hippy ones such as below ;) I did as many yoga poses with beautiful settings as I could fit in also!

I realised during this last week just how much my yoga teacher from my YTT 200 course had prepared me for the YTT 300 course. He had always been teaching and talking to us about fascia tissue, and the importance of meditation and a personal practice. He slowly tried to introduce us to the spiritual side of yoga, and we all very adamantly insisted we were doing the course for the physical aspects only. If only I had known then what I know now I would have been so much more receptive to his words and been open to learning more all the way back then. But as the story says - we are exactly where we are supposed to be, so I guess I just wasn't ready back then. But a big thank you to Michael Watson in Bermuda for introducing me to this wonderful world of Yoga. My enthusiasm for the subject totally comes from his amazing classes in the Aquarium in Bermuda all those years ago. He set a magical scene with the lights down low so that all we could see was the lights glowing in the fish tanks, the sharks and fish swimming around us, the music touching our heart.  His soft voice which sounded like a lullaby, and his wise words and stories, which somehow always felt like he was reaching out to you personally and letting you know that he felt you, saw you, understood you.  Thank you Michael for your support and guidance through some really testing times in my life. I will always be grateful for your time and energy, and lessons learnt.

On the morning of graduation, I received some terrible news from a friend via facebook. His brother had been diagnosed with cancer in January and sadly, and unexpectedly, passed away during the night.  I first met Liam in Borneo diving as a customer, and soon after completing my divemaster course in Thailand I returned to Borneo to work and had the pleasure of working closely with Liam.  Liam was such a positive and fun and wonderful personality with the kindest heart. The whole dive community was devastated to hear this sad, sad news and it really hit home just how fragile life is and we really must make the most of every moment.

"May you live all the days of your life. "
~ Jonathan Swift

Life is short people - live it well, make good choices, take each and every opportunity life throws your way. We are all here for a purpose, find out what that purpose is and go live life fully. Smile every day, and be grateful for your health and loved ones. RIP Liam :( xx

365 Day Handstand Challenge :)

365 Day Handstand Challenge :)

Join me in taking part in this 365 day handstand challenge!!!

During my time in India, my friend Tali posted on her facebook page that she was committing herself to a 365 Handstand Challenge set by Lauren Rudick on www.greenbodymind.com

I have cut and paste the article which inspired Tali into my blog below for your reference, as well as the actual link for those of you interested to read further:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8936/the-365-day-handstand-challenge.html

"Today is my birthday. I try not to make a big deal of that. In the past, some of my birthdays were fraught with disappointment. I used to get sad because my expectations of the actions of others on this special day didn't pan out. A forgetful friend, a party with lower than hoped for attendance, not getting flowers from supposed crushes... Silly, but still emotional jabs that would make me feel badly on the big day. Somewhere in recent years, I stopped celebrating. Frankly, my birthday makes me anxious.

As usual, when another year came around, I was filled with tension about where I am in life right now. I felt old. I felt that I should have accomplished more to this point. I felt sad to be single. I felt like many people often feel when they add one more candle to their birthday cake (let's not even get started with the upset that occurred the first time I had to fill out a form and check the next box down from 18-25) having not achieved specific life milestones or rites of passage. 

This year, on my birthday, I've decided to make a change. I realized that I am really young at heart. I have so much to be thankful for, and the people in my life whom I truly love and care for never forget my birthday, even when it's not listed on Facebook. 

So in an effort to keep bringing joy and playfulness into my life every day, in an attempt to maintain my free spirit, I'm taking on a new endeavor: 365 days of handstands. Yup! Every day for the next year of my life I will handstand and snap a photo of it. I'm challenging myself to stay lighthearted for a whole year. I am forcing myself to remember that life is about being in the moment, about constantly finding new perspective and reevaluating. And, of course, about enjoying the flip side. 
Want to join me in getting down with upside down this year? Take the challenge! A handstand a day for a whole year! I'll be posting my photos on Facebook, and Instagram, and you can too! Just follow #handstand365 for updates.

I challenge you, yogis, to come out and play!" 

Sooo....seeing Tali's fun photos, I decided to join her in accepting this challenge, for several reasons. 1) I am traveling so it will provide a reason to send people a photo everyday with the backdrop of where I am; 2) I would love to get better at my personal handstand practice, and what better way than practicing one (or perhaps several lol) a day; 3) It keeps me practicing yoga in some shape and form for the upcoming year, and post India :) I have posted this challenge on both my personal facebook page, instagram, and my Serenity Yoga facebook page. If you haven't already liked my page then please do at this link:  -https://www.facebook.com/pages/Serenity-Yoga/333834576715971?ref=hl

JOIN ME IN THIS CRAZINESS!! IN FACT JOIN US FOR THIS CRAZINESS!! And if handstand isn't for you, then find a yoga pose that works for you, and commit to doing it for 365 days. It can be any pose at all. Remember, the aim of this challenge is to keep us young and energetic and smiling while we celebrate this wonderful life :) 

Here is my first handstand photo to get things started - taken on the roof of the building where the Beatles stayed during their visit to the Maharishi Ashram in Rishikesh, India. 

Join me in this crazy attempt to keep life light and playful. Enjoy <3 

Incredible INDIA - Part Three

Magical Rishikesh - Week 5 :)

Almost at the final Rishikesh installment which is so super sad for me. I want to pull the hand brake up and slow down every day, second hour, minute and second and cherish everything about this magical place.

I am so content here, so safe and happy. It has become exactly like my Bermuda bubble was for me. My bedroom is finally all set up as if I were to stay there forever, I have a book case, decorations on the wall, a fully functioning wardrobe and most of all I have my Rishikesh routine! I, like lots of my girlfriends here, are more than a little scared about how we will feel when we leave and hit the 'real world' again. How will we keep the magic alive that we have learnt in Rishikesh? Will we be able to overcome life's challenges? Will we be able to make time for meditation, for our yoga practice, pranayama in the same way we did here? Will we be strong enough to make Roshan's wise words "yoga is everything" become our everyday reality without him or our other teachers, or even each other around to encourage us. Rishikesh has changed us all...

It has, once again, been a crazy madly intense week. Some of it has been life changing, some of it magical, some of it heart breaking, and always always offering lessons in life as a direct result of each experience or emotion felt along the way.

Week 5 started off on such a positive and then such an immediate low for me. I woke up early on Monday morning to wish my friends in Bermuda "Good Luck" for the Boston Marathon that day. The time difference meant that I had plenty of time to catch them all before the race. Later that day I checked facebook for news, and all I could see was the horror of the status updates amongst friends trying to frantically locate all of the Bermuda group in Boston. A friend, Suzie, had written on my wall "I hope that your friends are ok Caroline..." and my cousin, Chelsey, had sent me a note to similar effect to check that I had heard from all of my friends in Boston. A quick google later brought me to immediate tears when I realised that several bombs had gone off metres from the finish line of Boston Marathon.

Not only that, but at the time when over 50% of runners would have been coming through the finish line so not only the majority of runners affected but also a high majority of supporters. Panic set in, and I worked my way through peoples facebook pages and pieced together that fortunately everyone that I knew was together, and well. One girl only for the sheer fact that she stopped mid race for the toilet... Awful, devastating news.  So grateful for the luck shown to my friends for their good health. So upset for all of those innocent people showing support in the crowd. Devastated for those athletes who in good faith spent anywhere between 3-6 months of their lives training hard, devoting their heart and soul to their race, who lost limbs or even worse their lives or loved ones lives.

This news affected me far more than I had thought it would and for many weeks afterwards. The whole aim of my marathon training season in 2012 had been to quality for this amazing marathon. Boston Marathon is the one we all aspire to be good enough, fast enough, strong enough to compete for a place. Sadly, injury saw me fall 9 minutes short of qualifying for a place otherwise without a doubt I would have been there too. The chances of all of my friends being completely 100% ok is a miracle to me. What were the odds of that? So grateful.

I found the quote above on facebook which made me snap out of my depression, and turn my negative thinking about how cruel life could be into a positive. Damn right the bastards picked the wrong group of people to mess with. Marathoners are trained for ENDURANCE. We are tough. We won't be knocked down that easily.

The next morning I came across another old favorite quote of mine. Purpose. Again damn right, and it hit home immediately. I had woken up feeling a bit flat and lethargic. I took myself for a run to energise myself and loved every second of it. It was hard and fast, hilly and tough in 35 degree Rishikesh heat. But I reminded myself how lucky I was to be out there with my health and well being after the tragedy that affected so many in Boston yesterday. Live life people, enjoy every second it has to offer ♥ No more mourning, just appreciating every second we have on this planet.

The next day found me teaching my first flow yoga class in Rishikesh. My examination class!! The part I had strangely been both super excited about completing and terrified of at the same time. As part of my YTT 300 examination I have to teach a 90 minute class to a large group of the YTT 200 students.  I had never taught such a large class before (35 plus), nor in such a long and spacious room. Life was sending me a lesson to prove I could cope! It was so much fun, and there was so much positive energy in the room :) I just loved it SO much. I got such lovely feedback at the end of the class, and hugs and questions and made what felt like a zillion new friends amongst the YTT yogi family.  It truly made me realise just how much I miss teaching. I had expected to be nervous and it just felt like coming home instead. Good times!! We even had a visit from a monkey during the class which loosened some tension.  Love the Life I Live :) I am so lucky. Made me miss my Bermuda class of regular students too, you would have been proud of me - wish you could have joined in and been part of my class! I hope that one day I can come back and teach you all that I have learnt here in India. I just have the exam paper, and the 90 minute workshop to present to my fellow YTT 300 hour yogis next week left, and then I have completed the course!!!!!!!

During the planning of our classes, we all wanted to find the perfect quote to share. The piece that summed up how we felt about all that we had learnt and all that we wanted to become, and share with our students. With a little helping hand, I came across the following quote which I just love. I got such wonderful feedback from the YTT 200 students after hearing it that I wanted to share it in my blog for you.

Desiderata (Latin: "desired things" in a 1927 pose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann.

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons that yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many tears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy".

While everyone was teaching their exam classes we were lucky enough to have Narandra teaching us! Brother of Jeet - brother that taught Jeet everything he knows. I was excited...and with very good reason as every evening was so, so awesome! We went from fast, traditional hatha, sun salutations to experimenting with forearm stands, scorpion, handstands, compass, side crow modifications, serious backbends to gentle floor work....so much fun! I got into fallen angel for the first time properly too :) Kick ass teacher giving us awesome tips along the way to get the best out of our practice each and every night. THIS was what I had hoped for all the way through the YTT 300 program, and am delighted to have at least received some of this training in my final two weeks. I would love to come back and train one on one with Narandra. The things I would learn in just one month of dedicated practice ♥

On April 21st, a group of my Bermuda running friends got to the start line of the London Marathon. I was nervous for them, and kept my phone with me the whole day checking every second that I could that nothing bad happened and wishing them all the luck and love in the World on what would be a mentally and physically tough day for them. They all did amazingly and the World was a happy place again :) So proud of their strength xx

A motto so many of my friends can relate to and live by every day of their lives.  I like to think that I surround myself with people who get out there and live, they take every opportunity they can and throw themselves full speed into whatever they are doing. We ARE adventurers ;) Certainly my friends don't let a day go by when they are not out there running, cycling, swimming or a bit of all three, along with traveling the globe, raising their families, planning how to make their daydreams come true and enjoying life <3 

The pace of YTT picked up full speed during this week as everyone suddenly realised that we had to teach, present our workshops, assist in other peoples classes, finish designing our exam sequences, and completing our exam papers.  It led to intense study sessions, in super cool cafes, cramming over books, internet pages and classroom notes to complete everything in time. Was always good fun though - especially the day in Health Cafe when the owner played The Beatles in the background for us, and we were able to have a little sing song along with the music to break up the monotony of studies!!

As time went on, we realised it was almost time to say our goodbyes so a lot of time was spent trying to fit in the studies, experiencing everything that we could in our final weeks in Rishikesh, and enjoying each others company! We were exhausted physically and emotionally but we would not waste a second of our time here!! Week 5 meant that Amanda, Danielle and I could also change our nose rings soon. This was exciting as we all had bent bits of silver in a circle like shape through our noses lol. We took a trip to Rishikesh market to buy some nose bling, and work out the situation with saris for our graduation next week! On our way to the market, we came across possibly the biggest cow we had seen during our entire stay on the Ram Jhula bridge - hilarious! Obviously in true India fashion, everything else in the world had to move around the cow as once it sat down it owned that piece of land until it decided to move! A hard task as this was so huge, and had chosen the middle of the bridge as its chosen spot!

We spent ages and ages at the market looking at the selections of gold and silver jewellery for our noses! There were SO many Indian women in each of the stores buying jewellery, we couldn't believe it and had to wait ages to get even remotely close to the glass counters. THIS is where all the women of Rishikesh have been hiding lol - all we ever see is men everywhere as the norm.  The women found us incredibly curious creatures when we were looking, but we didn't care we were too focused on the potential nose bling! Gold is so cheap in India it is just amazing, and you can understand why so many women are decorated so heavily in their jewels. 

On our final free day together, we organised a girls day and had a huge breakfast at Ganesh, a Rishikesh greasy spoon equivalent with the most amazing paratha ever! We had coconut and banana paratha, amongst a tonne of other delicious foods. The owner was so happy to see us and insisted on photos with us, and playing with the pics to see which were the best ones haha! Afterwards we took ourselves to The Beatles Ashram for our final trip together, and for a super cool photo shoot! After having to break in over the wall, as it was locked up, and eventually avoiding the Indian boys who decided to follow us initially, we found ourselves heading to the Music Hall where The Beatles wrote most of their White album. Then to the roof of the building where they slept during their stay in the Ashram. The view up there is just spectacular, you can see for miles on a clear day. We took turns to take yoga photos before we all melted in the increasingly hot, hot, hot Rishikesh weather.  On top of this roof is where the 365 Day Handstand Challenge series of photos began (read next blog for details!!). The first of 365 days of handstands is shown below - me on top of the Rishikesh World with the biggest smile on my face :)

Can't believe that I am 5 weeks into my 6 week YTT 300 hour course....such an amazing time, so many happy memories and have learnt so many amazing yoga and life skills that I will carry with me for the rest of my life!

Feeling grateful ♥